“For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”  If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.”

Galatians 5:14-15

As I ponder the 4th of July, of course my thoughts turn to the idea of freedom. It’s a concept that we “freely” proclaim. “I am thankful to live a life of freedom.” “We are so fortunate to live in a free country.” “I am free to choose how to live my life.” “I’m free to do whatever I want to do.”

We read of freedom frequently in the New Testament. And the Apostle Paul writes about it at length in Galatians 5. Paul emphatically reminded the church in Galatia that faith in Christ gives freedom from the bondage of the Mosaic law. In verse 4, he writes: “You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace.”

As followers of Christ, Paul tells the Galatians that they have traded the burden of the law (including the Ten Commandments) for grace. They are free…and so are we! And with our freedom we are given choices. And those choices, according to Paul, are directly related to how we treat others.

In fact, it’s as if he’s saying, “You know…if you are bent on having a ‘law’ to live by, then live by this one: Love your neighbor as yourself. That one law will take care of the rest.” Otherwise, you are going to absolutely destroy each other.

I must admit, it does seem like that we, as a society, are living into the verse: “If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.” Can’t you feel it? Don’t we hear it every day in political discourse? Doesn’t it seem like we are devouring one another?

Maybe we can take a degree of solace in that what we are experiencing is nothing new. Apparently the church in Galatia experienced it, too. But Paul had a solution for them that is valid for followers of Christ today. That solution is to use our freedom in Christ to love others. And, he gives us examples at the end of Chapter 5 when he speaks of the fruit of the Spirit.

Our freedom in Christ brings choices:

• We can choose hatred and disdain, or we can choose love.
• We can choose hopelessness, or we can choose joy.
• We can choose conflict, or we can choose peace.
• We can choose agitation and revenge, or we can choose patience.
• We can choose envy and cruelty, or we can choose kindness.
• We can choose self-centeredness, or we can choose generosity.
• We can choose distrust, or we can choose faithfulness.
• We can choose anger, or we can choose gentleness.
• We can choose to be powerless, or we can choose self-control.

Appropriately, Paul writes: There is no law against such things. And indeed, there is not. As we ponder freedom on this 4th of July, let us not forget that our choices can either destroy others or build unity.